Minutes of the 2015 APEA Annual General MeetingHeld at the Ricoh Arena5th November 2015, 1.15pm

2. ApologiesR Tunnicliff noted that there had been apologies and J Mardell had the list.

3. Minutes of previous meetingR Tunnicliff said the minutes had been sent out to members from the previous AGM on 5th November 2014, it was agreed that the minutes were correct. The minutes were proposed as correct by M Orr and seconded by A Martiniussen.

4. Matters Arising from Minutes 5th November 2014.There were no matters arising.

5. CorrespondenceR Tunnicliff said there had been two items of correspondence, one from the Southern Branch that had been addressed and one about the dates for APEA Live which has also been addressed.

6. Chairman’s ReportK Tallon welcomed everyone to the AGM.

K Tallon presented the following report:

First and foremost I would like to welcome you all to the 2015 APEA Annual General Meeting, it is a great pleasure to see you all here.

I am now half way through my tenure as Chairman and it certainly has been an interesting and eventful year. As Chairman I set myself a number of challenges at the start, they were to bring positive change and growth to the association. I would like to thank all the Council Members and members of the APEA for their support during my first year and for the assistance they have given to these objectives. We will continue them over the next year with a view to ensuring that our organization is in the best possible position going forward. However, change sometimes means some very important and highly dedicated people moving on from the council. I would like to extend my deepest thanks to those leaving us this year for all their hard work and commitment. In addition the Council has changed the rules to allow any future voting that may take place can now be carried out using digital media so that all members can be involved and not just those attending the AGM.

This year has been a very busy year and I didn’t yet get to attend as many of the branch meetings as I thought. However, I will still attend as many as I can over the coming twelve months.

I would like to thank Jane Mardell for all her hard work and endless patience trying to keep myself and the other council members on the straight and narrow. The association would struggle to remain as professional as it is without her and I would like to ensure that our appreciation is felt.

The branch and other committees continue to work tirelessly to put on events that are held at interesting venues with topical, relevant, technical and useful content and I would urge all members and non members, to make a commitment to yourselves wherever possible to attend these events. The website contains a calendar of known events and Jane is always more than happy to answer any enquiries.

The reports that follow from officers of the association will go into further detail regarding the current position of the association. While not everyone will always agree with every decision the council makes I can assure all our members that your council is here to represent you, the membership, and the decisions that are made at National Council are made in what we believe are the association’s best interests. I would strongly encourage anyone who feels they have something to offer or disagrees with decisions to run for office and let your voice be heard.

I hope everybody enjoys the event today. Please take time to attend the conference and visit the exhibitors and sponsors. Their support of this event is very valuable and helps ensure that it is a success. For those of you who are able to join us for the awards dinner this evening I am sure we will all have an enjoyable evening.

7. Secretary’s ReportR Tunnicliff presented the following report:

This year I have not stood for the position of Honorary Secretary. This means that we will have a new Honorary Secretary. I have enjoyed working with a great team and know that this will continue as we all seek to serve you. It has been an honour to work with them. My thanks go to the whole council.

The finances remain in good hands and the publications are wonderful, and our thanks must go to Brian Baker and Jane for this.

I wish my successor well in his endeavours and I am sure the APEA will grow from strength to strength and I would like to especially thank Jane for all she does in the background to keep us going forward.

8. Treasurer’s ReportG Bourhill said he would like to congratulate the APEA accountants, Ensors, on providing professional advice and all financial matters, he noted that there had been a new auditor appointed and said that this had been particularly challenging.

G Bourhill presented the following report:

Ladies and gentlemen as in previous years the accounts will be presented on the screen.

Briefly before I move on to them I would as I complete my Third year as your Treasurer, indicate and for the minutes, express my appreciation for the assistance of our accountants Ensors.

The accounts for 2014 are now on the screen.

If we can do them as we have always done, page by page.

First is the heading page.

Next is the Index page.

Page 1, the first numbered page is the list of directors and company information.

Pages 2 and 3, are the director’s report giving general information about the activities for the year, the profit and loss for the year and defining in general terms, the responsibilities of the directors.

Pages 4 and 5, are the independent auditor’s report, which is addressed to you and explains the rules and responsibilities covering the directors and the auditors.

Page 6 is the income and expenditure for the trading year and shows the profit or loss and you will see we had a profit of £9,353 after tax which is a small increase on the surplus in the previous year of £2,220.

As a non-profit making organization surpluses and deficits will occur as our association strives to provide benefits for the members. I’m very pleased to report we now continue a pattern of a few years of small surplus. Going forward small surpluses and deficits will prevail with reserves of in excess of £190,000. The association currently remains in a healthy state.

Page 7 is the balance sheet and shows us that we have reserves of £191,624.00.

Pages 8, 9 and 10 are the notes to the preceding pages.

Page 11 shows details of money paid to the directors for various reasons.

I am happy to report that in my opinion these accounts, which are posted on our website and has been, published in the September Bulletin shows us to be in a good financial condition.

The accounts were proposed as correct by B Baker and seconded by J Thompson.

9. Editor’s ReportB Baker presented the following report:

My final report as Editor of the APEA’s Bulletin Journal is again straight forward as all four issues were issued on time with each edition full. Having presided for over 50 issues the time has come for me to step down to allow progression within the Organisation.

The landmark of compiling the Bulletin Indexes was completed and these are now posted on the website and are regularly updated.

A list of all Technical Articles published in the Journal from February 2001 until the Present, a list of Interviews from 2007 – 2014 and a list of all the ASK THE EXPERTS Questions and Answers according 10 categories can now be found and used for reference purposes.

It is hoped that these indexes will add more value to membership that allows an easy –to-use reference centre whether you are looking for particular products, technical answers or researching something. My PC was punished for many hours in producing that lot but please go on our web site and see for yourself and let us have any comments.

As is the case, the incoming Editor will need technical articles for the Journal. The size of anything submitted does not really matter though usually the largest I take is about 2,000 words (about 4 sides of A4) and any photos or graphics must be of high resolution in order that they reproduce to a decent quality. If anyone is thinking about submitting something please get in touch.

On that note I formally offer my sincere good wishes to Brian Humm who has agreed to take on this role. Brian has vast experience and is well-placed to seek articles and postings for each issue and know he will bring something new to the table.

No complaints have been received about the present format but I am sure if you have any material, then please forward it to Brian whose contact details are on the website under “Contact Us/The Council”.

My thanks go to Martin Steggles and Jamie Thompson for the constant supply of interesting photos for the front page. Also my appreciation goes to the small group of proof readers checking each issue with a fine toothed comb, especially John Thompson in Scotland.

Finally my thanks go to Jane for her publishing skills in assembling every issue with pain-staking accuracy and precision. I work quite closely with Jane and over the years have come to recognise exactly what goes into each edition and the importance of meeting deadlines that kept me – and come to think of it – all of those on Council as disciplined as we should be.

Best Wishes and Good Luck in the future.

10. Election of OfficersR Tunnicliff presented the nominations to Council.Nomination forms have been received for the following persons, and in the absence of any other nominees, they were appointed to office unopposed:-

Post

Person nominated

Proposer

Seconder

Chair

Killian Tallon

Louise Morgan

Gareth Bourhill

Vice

Anton Martiniussen

Jamie Thompson

Louise Morgan

Hon Sec

Mark James Orr

Jamie Thompson

Brian Baker

Treasurer

Gareth Bourhill

Jamie Thompson

Brian Baker

Editor

Brian James Humm

Brian Baker

Jamie Thompson

Council member

Michael O'Kane

Ray Nicolson

Phil Monger

Council member

Jamie Thompson

Brian Humm

Brian Baker

Council member

Raymond Nicolson

Ian Hillier

Phil Monger

11. Any other BusinessThere was no AOB and R Tunnicliff concluded the business session and thanked everyone for attending.